BIRTHDAY PARTY REPORT AND CARDS

The party was a great success! All the girls had a ball. The parents were amazed at how intent they were on making their projects and how quiet they were. Best of all my stamps are not to big of a mess. Fortunately I am not one that gets too upset over staining on the wood after all they are stamps. I did control color contamination by only putting out one color stamp pad at a time. The first projects used black pads and they added color with markers (not my SU markers however I have BIC markers for kids use). The second set of projects used red pads. Also each set of projects had their own exclusive stamps to be used so I didn't have to worry about cleaning them between projects.

The girls were quite creative. They looked at my samples and then pretty much did there own thing. They did a lot of just drawing with the markers also. The card stock was pretty well covered on each of the projects. I don't think I would do this with a group any younger than 7 however. The good news is it now sounds as if the mom's want to get together and do something!

Now, at to what I've been up to today. I have a friend who is a therapist and she asked me to make her some cards for people who have lost beloved pets; specifically cats and dogs. I was stumped at first what to do then I found some marvelous stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms. I immediately ordered them and they arrived very quickly. I got to sentiment stamps and a wonderful cat stamp. I am still looking for a nice dog stamp, but haven't found one I like yet. I did however fine a pet themed mat pack from DCWV that I was able to use for a dog card. I'm still on the prowl t find a nice not comic dog stamp.

For the cat card I used my SU craft ink spots in More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip to color the cat fur and then used q-tips to put some Old Olive on the eyes. I stamped the image on So Saffron card stock and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I then used a q-tip again to lightly rub Blue Bayou ink around the outside of the image and used the tearing edge to get a ragged edge around the image. The DSDP is Blue Bayou layered on more So Saffron and the ribbon is Cream Grosgrain with a ribbon belt from my hodge podge set. After I did this I like how it looked somewhat like a collar.

In side the card is a sentiment that says " Always remember the quiet dignity, the sophisticated air, and the warm comfort. Your beloved cat may have gone, but your memories remain. Sorry for your loss."


I wanted to use the ribbon collar idea on the dog card as well. This is what I came up for that. The sentiment on the inside of it reads
"The sadness of a dog lost can be tempered by the memories left behind: Walks in the park, games with a ball, and even muddy paws on a clean floor. Sorry to hear of your loss."

I wish I had found these stamps sooner. Over the past few years I have had many friends loose a pet, including our loss of our own Mr Snuggles a wonderful and crazy beagle. I am glad I have them now. If any one has any help for were to find a nice not too small dog stamp I would very much appreciate a comment. Thanks.

TODAY'S THE BIG PARTY!

First a note about yesterdays card. I forgot to mention that the pear stamp is a single pear. I created the row of three pears using the masking technique. I stamped the first pear on the card stock. Then I stamped a second pear on a post-it note and cut it out making sure part of the image was over the sticky part of the note. I placed this on top of the first stamped image and then stamped the pear again on both sides of the original angling it as I wanted.

Now on to today.........
Today in about an hour is the birthday party that I am the activity director for.....stamping and card making with 8 little girls all around 7 years of age!!!!!! Yikes! How did I get myself into this....oh yeah I though it would be fun....I'll let you know. Right now I'm a little worried about the state my stamps and pads will finish up in.

The mother of the birthday girl told me she loved fairies and princesses so I made this card to take and give to her. In rel life it is not quite as dark as it scanned. The main card stock is Groovy Guava and the blue is last years in color Buckaroo Blue which I love and miss very much. (Though Blue Bayou is nice also).

I can't remember the name of the stamp set . It's a long retired set from SU. Dragons and Dreams or something like that. I colored it with a combination of Prisma and Copic markers. Mainly Prismas since I have more of those and I needed the fine point to get into small spaces. That's one thing I wish Copic had .The brush on one end but then the fine point on the other. Anyway it was a fun card to do. And now I must be off to the party......I'll let you know how it went later.......

FRESH FRUIT

Another stamp set that I have fallen in love with. Oh heck why don't I just admit that I love them all! This card was made with a stamp from a Stampin' Up Level Two hostess set called Infinite Goodness. I decided it didn't need any sentiment on the outside. That way I can use it for what ever and put the sentiment on the inside when I know its use.

My biggest challenge on this card was I had to break my habit of hoarding the jumbo eyelets. Not sure why I hoard things like this....they are not that expensive and I can always order more. I really love the country feel of this card and am very pleased how it all came together. The shading on the pears is done with a dauber and classic ink. I also outlined with markers the stems and the leaves.

Now my next challenge is to not hoard the card itself but actually send it to someone! I need to remember I can always come back here and see it. Does anyone else find it difficult to part with some of the cards you made and fall in love with? Or is it just me?????

INFO ON GATE FOLD CARDS

I thought that some of you might like some more information on how to make gate fold cards like the one in my previous post. Rather than my writing up a tutorial myself I'm going to take the easy way out and give you a link to the video tutorial that I used in learning how to make this style with the ribbon closure. It is from SCRAP TIME. I love this web site and have it on my Google Reader list so I always get the new episodes. Some of you may already be familiar with it, but if you aren't be sure and check it out. I've learned a lot of new techniques and also gained a lot of information on products that are out there. ENJOY!

I STAMPED!!!!!!!

Yea!!!! I finally got back in the groove. I received my first order of stamps from GinaK last week and have just been looking at them and dreaming about what wonderful cards they would make. I just couldn't put them to paper for some reason....well maybe the head ickies had something to do with it. Tonight I broke through the block and made one of the cards I've been dreaming up. I have fallen in love with door cards (gate cards?)

I needed to make a birthday card for a friends 9 year old grand daughter and this is what I did.

The front stamp is from GinaK's stamp set for a cause How Sweet It Is. The cake stamp didn't quite fit in the Super Jumbo Marvy Circle Punch so I just punched off part of the plate. The scalloped circle is the Marvy Mega Punch. I used Mellow Moss as the base card stock and a retired DSDP I can't find the name. The closure is Mellow Moss Checked Gingham Ribbon.

Open the card and inside is the cute kangaroo from Just So Hoppy by Melanie Muenchinger for GinaK.
I love this set. If you want to see more that can be done with it check out Melanie's BLOG.

I used Prisma Markers to do the coloring on both the stamps and since I didn't like the pure white background behind the stamps I used a dauber and lightly sponged a little ink there.

So this is what I did. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more fun!

INSPIRATION!

I still haven't made it into my stamping room. This time due to illness and just feeling no energy or inspiration. But I think I just may have found some. If you need inspiration check out Erika's BLOG Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps. She has a wonderful You Tube video there that is guaranteed to inspire. If you don't need inspiration that dreams can come true, but would like to know a bit more about Autism and the wonderful things that kids with it can do despite living with this affliction check it out. It will give you hope. But this video comes with a Kleenex warning. Have some close by you may need it.

Thank you Erika for this wonderful look into what is possible......if you are a stamper reading this and you are not familiar with Gina K's support for Autism. Check out here site for a wonderful stamp set whose purchase helps with this. Also while at Erika's BLOG don't miss commenting for her fantastic give away.

THANK YOU!

I haven't had time to even step foot in my stamping room since Saturday night. Life has just taken on a craziness of it's own. I did take time tonight to catch up on some BLOG reading. What a wonderful surprise and honor it was to discover that my good friend Lee awarded me this on her blog. Thank you so much Lee!

Now I have a big job to do. I will be passing this award on.

Things may be a bit slow on her BLOG at the moment do to having to have her home ready at all times for prospective buyers, but look back through her posts and look forward to the future. Susan's Saga is a delight to read and it gives me a glimpse of card making and scrapbooking, as well as life "down under". One day I hope to head her way in real life!

I love the simplicity of many of her card creations. They are wonderful and neither take hours to complete nor would they require extra postage or oversize envelopes to mail. She has helped me see that less can indeed be more. So I pass this award on to Created by Jennifer.

She is new to the BLOGGING world, but her cards are wonderful and I am sure there will be more coming. I love how she intermixes life with her cards on her site. Also she is so giving and sharing with what she loves about paper crafting both through her work and on the internet. Watch for good things to come here. So one of my awards goes to Sarah Stamper

Thank you to all whose BLOGS I frequent. You are all a main source of inspiration and encouragement to me. Tomorrow I hope things slow down in my life enough that I can use some of that inspiration to create some things to show here.

StAMPFEST SATURDAY

Twice a year I help with a Stampfest in our local community. Today was our winter one. We has a great time as 33 women gathered to learn new techniques and make cards and gift items. I think it is safe to say that they went home happy with the time spent and three cards, one candy gift box and this little note pad.

This was the project that I taught. I got the idea from a swap I received at SU's convention in Denver last year. The original was made by someone who will remain anonymous as there is no information on the project. Everyone loved it. They liked it even better when I told them you really didn't have to purchase the chipboard coaster that it was built on. All you had to do was visit your neighborhood bar and order a drink, then put the coaster in your purse before it got wet. They throw them away anyway......

The items used in this project are a chipboard coaster, approximately 4x4 inches, a piece of designer paper to cover the front and a piece of cardstock to cover the back. Also needed is a 3x2 inch piece of card stock scored along the 3 inch side at 1/4", 3/4", 1-1/4", and 1-3/4" and a scrap of card stock or designer paper to punch the three flowers with three brads for their centers. Finally you need a short wooden pencil like you get when you play miniature golf, two strips of magnetic tape with adhesive on one side and a small section, about 1/2 thick of post-it notes.

The tools I used were a crop-a-dile to punch holes for brads through the covered coaster and flowers and an adhesive like the Tombrow multi that SU now carries or a good glue stick like SU's.

I didn't take pictures of each step, as I am not in a tutorial state of mind with my posting yet, but I think seeing the finished item you can pretty much figure out how to put it together. Here are a few tips:

1. When covering the coaster be sure and get your adhesive all the way to the edge of coaster so paper sticks well at edges.
2. First cover the front then punch wholes along ege for flowers and brads. This way when you cover the back you cover the ends of the brads.
3. Lay your post-it note pad on front when you determine how far in to punch holes for the flowers. You want it to fit.
   
4. Place the holder for the pencil right up at top edge so you have room for the post-it pad.
5. The holder for the pencil is not folded into a open ended box. it is either like _l l_ or l_l_ with a top line added between the two l l's. (I hope that makes sense I couldn't figure out how to type a line on the top.) The pad of notes covers the bottom leg of the box and gives the pencil holder note strength and stability.
   
6. Place the magnet strips horizontally near top and bottom of back of covered coaster.
7. Don't use a whole post-it note pad it's too heavy.
   
8. Place some adhesive along top edge of post-it notes the post-it sticky is not enough to hold pad in place
   

Now you are ready to place this on your fridge or other metal surface for your note writing. When you use up your notes just glue on more....Have fun.

LEE CHALLENGES US TO EMBOSS!

Lee issued another challenge this week. We were to emboss something. IT could be anything and we could emboss anyway we wanted. Heated, dry cuttlebug whatever suited our card making fancy.

I have been doing a lot of embossing lately. I love using detail clear embossing powder over sentiments stamped using craft inks. The colors really brighten up and pop. I also used a great deal of clear embossing powder in working with the emergent colors technique earlier in the week. I'm beginning to think that I need to find a location where I can purchase clear embossing powder by the pound not the ounce.

For Lee's challenge I decided to use some colored embossing powder for a change. I dug around in my powder keg and found a jar of glittery red powder. It's hard to see in the scan but the circle in the center of the flower with the heart and the dots is embossed as is the "o" with the heart in it in Love.

The embossing in the flower center was fun and very easy. It is a sticky tape type decal that I rubbed onto white card stock and the embossing powder stuck to it really nice. I found this design and several more from Oriental Trading long before Stampin' Up came out with their sticky letters and shapes. I have a set of those coming on an order in mid February. I'm curious to see if they are the same type of product.

So here is my card for Lee's challenge. With Valentine's Day quickly approaching I'm working on having enough cards to send to family and friends. Fro some reason the scanned image makes the scalloped edge at the bottom look crooked. In real life it is not. Also when you open the card to the inside message the red band you see here is actually attached to the inside of the card and there is a scalloped edge at it's top.

I used stamps from four different SU sets in this card. I really need to do a better job of writing down the names of the stamp sets used as I use them. The only ones that I can remember the name of right now are Holidays and Wishes is the Happy Valentine Day and the stem of the flower is from Serene Sunflowers. All the sets I used except for Holidays and Wishes are retired sets.

Thanks for another fun challenge Lee!

EMERGING COLOR DAY 2

This morning I got up and decided that my Emergent background color had plenty of time to dry so it was time to finish the technique and see if it came out better and without little specks. It did come out much better but there still are some speckling. I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong or that this is just how it always turns out. I did this on glossy card stock once again. I like it on the glossy card stock better then the regular card stock because the shine of the glossy finish goes well with the shine of the clear embossing powder.

So it is easier to see the before and after embossing and brayering I am reposting the back ground that I stamped yesterday afternoon and also the card I made with it after finishing the technique. The background stamp colors I used were Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Wild Wasabi, and Bashful Blue. The background stamps I used were from Carte Postal and Wanted.

I brayered Elegant Eggplant over the top after embossing. Then I stamped with versa mark using stamps from Big Pieces and the solid small circle from Pick a Petal. My card base is Wild Wasabi card stock stamped with the Canvas background and Wild Wasabi ink. I used the Birthday stamp from Hugs and Wishes for the sentiment stamped in Elegant Eggplant in River Rock. I punched it out using the Marvy scalloped oval punch and sponged around the edge with River Rock ink. Two antique pewter brads finish off the scalloped oval and it is mounted on card front with dimensionals to pop it up.

EMERGING COLOR

I had never heard up this technique until I found it on Linda Heller's BLOG Where the Rubber Hits the Road. She is doing a video each week showing a new technique. They are only up for one week and then taken down when the next goes up. She is following the alphabet in choosing the techniques.

This is the emerging color technique. I still need to do some work in perfecting it, but it is a fun technique and I think worth working on. It can be done on plain or glossy paper. It involves multiple colors ink, versa mark and clear embossing powder. Here are the steps I followed.

1. Stamp lined images in several different colors over a piece of white card stock. Leave some white space but I don’t think you want to leave too much.
2. Set aside to dry well before going on to step 3.
3. Wipe top of card stock with embossing buddy.
4. Stamp solid stamped image over the stamped images from step #1 using versamark ink.
5. Emboss with clear embossing powder.
6. Brayer a dark ink over whole sheet of card stock. This wlll take several coats. Get it so it is well covered.
7. Buff excess ink off of embossed images. You will see the designs stamped on in step #1 emerge from the dark inked background.

You may then cut out the images to use separately or use piece as background or strip.

I experimented with several images and papers. The problems I had was that even with using classic dye inks the embossing powder was sticking to some of the ink besides the versa marked images. This meant that the ink being brayered over the top was not solid, but looked speckled. Even when I used the embossing buddy I was still getting a speckled top layer. They were just small speckles and don't really show up here but they made it so I didn't want to use the dark background with the emergent color as a background or strip on the card. So for my first cards I have cut out the images. I've prepared another sample (actually the top picture) and am letting it dry really well. LAter tonight or tomorrow I will versa mark and emboss the solid images and then finish and see it this works better.

For now here are the two cards that I have made using what I have done with this technique so far. They are both birthday cards that I need for next week.

A COLOR CHALLENGE FROM LEE

This is the card that I made for Lee's first color challenge. The colors to be used were Orchid Opulence, Lovely Lilac, and Mellow Moss. I promise those where the colors I used. I just need to figure out how to get a scan that shows the colors accurately.

The base of my card is the Orchid Opulence, the first layer is Lovely Lilac, though in my scan it is showing very blue! I used the Mellow Moss in the strip that goes over the tow. The mottled background is the polished stone technique Using these colors and a bit of yellow as well. I colored some white flowers from the Pretties kit using my chalk pastels. and used a bit of mellow moss checked ribbon form my "leaves".

Thanks for the challenge Lee! I look forward to others.